I found this today when I was cruising my local Goodwill thrift store & am enamored: The House Plant Expert by Dr. D.G. Hessayon & published by pbi Publications/Britannica House, 1980. I would call it a field guide for house plants. A big part of what I'm digging is that it's illustrated a'la 50's Golden pocket science books & field guides. There are quite a number on e-bay currently, as well as newer editions that look like the illustrations have been replaced with photographs (which might make it just another mediocre plant book). The care instructions are very general, but it has 11 varieties depicted on the Philodendron page while Monstera has a page elsewhere. And 12 varieties on the Dracaena page. There are a lot of plants listed in this book, although newer varieties aren't in it, of course, so some things that have seen kind of a population explosion like Epipremnum & Aglaonema have listings that do not reflect what's currently out there. Maybe the newer editions do though, if they're in the same spirit as this edition. I guess that wound up sounding little bit like a book review, but since there was a bit of book discussion on Evy's dish garden thread & I'm excited about my find (love the illustrations), I just got inspired! Plus, I remembered that this thread had some good suggestions that might be appreciated again... GB

Yes, the Toogood book is very good. But it's concise and not illustrated much. If you are not highly experienced with propagating, you might want to start with the American Horticultural Society's book on Plant Propagation. Lots of photos and plants are broken out by type. I say get them both! For seed collecting, you might want to look at Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. It's aimed at garden plants, but she breaks it down by plant family so you get a good feel for the botany. And many flowering plants are in the Compositae,which she does cover.

I'm sorry I don't have a book to recommend, but hope you won't mind a bit of advice. You should be doing nothing for your son which he can do for himself. That includes his laundry, tidy room, make bed, etc. Don't start WWIII over this, don't criticize, be angry, etc. Start out gently and slowly. Approach your son more as an adult asking for help since you and your husband work hard to keep a nice home and help him be successful in school. He will be more successful in college or wherever he goes if he learns to take care of himself and his surroundings. I would not mention this now, but if he ever thinks he's going to drive, that is a privilege which has to be earned in whatever way you see fit.

I have it and its a great book. All her books and videos are quite good. Bonnie